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Kenya, a country in East Africa, is known worldwide for its wildlife reserves, its lofty mountain peaks, and the high quality offerings from the country’s tea gardens and coffee plantations. Kenya tea is a main staple in Irish and English tea blends, and for years it was mostly produced for the tea bag trade. For the past 10 years or so, the Kenya tea producers have been focusing on more orthodox producing to create high quality large leaf style teas.
This tea is from the Malaika tea factory serving 680 small-scale tea farmers in Kenya. The factory is located just south of the Mt Kenya National Park at an elevation of 5446 ft (1660m) above sea level. In the Swahili language, Malaika means Angel.
The beautifully medium (OP) black twisted leaves contain some marvelous looking tippy leaves of various white & golden hues producing a bright amber cup with a heady aroma. The tea has a strong, full-bodied taste with delicious citral tones.
Brew tea at 212ยบ – steep for 3 minutes.
Smells malty and slightly fruity. Not sure there I’d say there are any citral tones. Maybe this is another that my palate isn’t discerning enough to fully pick out the flavors in the description. I also don’t see any “white hues” in the leaves.
Definitely a full bodied taste, though I did steep for about 4 minutes as it seemed kind of light at 3 minutes.
Good, but not one that I’ll go out of my way to keep around.
A big thank you to Nicole for this one. Twisted pieces of broken leaf with rust colored buds well represented. It has some similarities to the Golden Monkey I had yesterday but much much more subtle. It has more similarities to a breakfast Assam without being in your face. It does have some bite and is a little drying. A nice tea I would not turn down. First cup was a pretty reddish orange. Second was bronze and was more planty tasting.
mmmm thank you Nicole This is a tasty black. I think you’re right on the steeping parameters as i tried this for about 3 mins and it’s a little light. I’ll have to try again with a longer steep time. :) Still a tasty tea.
Thanks so much Nicole for this nice black!
The tea brews a nice amber color. The taste is smooth and sweet with a slight floral flavor and hints of pecan and red grape.
